BILL NUMBER: AB 1055	CHAPTERED  10/10/99

	CHAPTER   712
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   OCTOBER 10, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   OCTOBER 6, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   SEPTEMBER 10, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   SEPTEMBER 8, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 26, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 16, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 28, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 26, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Villaraigosa

                        FEBRUARY 25, 1999

   An act to amend Sections 115730 and 115735 of, and to add and
repeal Article 4 (commencing with Section 115810) of Chapter 4 of
Part 10 of Division 104 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to
public playgrounds.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1055, Villaraigosa.  Playground equipment and facilities.
   (1) Existing law requires all public agencies operating
playgrounds, including a state agency, city, county, city and county,
and district, to upgrade their playgrounds by replacement or
improvement as necessary to satisfy specified regulations to the
extent state funds are made available specifically for the purpose
through state bonds or other means.  Existing law also requires all
other entities operating playgrounds open to the public to upgrade
their playgrounds by replacement or improvement, as necessary to
satisfy specified regulations, on or before January 1, 2000.
   This bill would extend to January 1, 2003, the date on or before
which entities, excluding public agencies, operating playgrounds open
to the public are required to upgrade their playgrounds by
replacement or improvement to satisfy specified regulations.  It
would also exempt certain foster and child care providers from these
provisions.
   The bill would require playgrounds installed between specified
dates to be upgraded to satisfy criteria in certain federal
guidelines.  The bill would provide that before October 1, 2000, all
public agencies and other entities operating playgrounds open to the
public shall have a playground inspector conduct an inspection to aid
compliance with applicable requirements, as specified.
   (2) Existing law requires the State Department of Health Services,
in consultation with specified other agencies and entities to adopt
regulations for the design, installation, maintenance, inspection,
supervision where appropriate, and training of personnel involved in
the design, installation, and maintenance, of playgrounds, as
described, either operated by public agencies, including state
agencies, cities, counties, school districts, and other districts, or
operated by any entity where the playground is open to the public.
   This bill would enact the Playground Safety and Recycling Act of
1999, which would establish, until July 1, 2003, the playground
safety and recycling grant program, administered by the California
Integrated Waste Management Board, to provide grants for the purpose
of improving or replacing playgrounds, as defined, to local agencies,
if specified conditions for eligibility are met, including specified
requirements that the grant funds will be used for the improvement,
installation, or replacement of equipment or facilities through the
use of recycled materials.
   The bill would authorize the California Integrated Waste
Management Board to adopt emergency regulations, as prescribed, to
implement the bill.  The bill would create the Playground Safety and
Recycling Account in the State Treasury.  The bill would authorize
moneys in the account to be expended, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, for the purposes of the program and for the
administrative costs incurred by the board in administering the
program.  The bill would be implemented with funds appropriated for
deposit in the account or otherwise made available.
   (3) Existing law appropriates $2,000,000 to the Superintendent of
Public Instruction, for allocation on a one-time basis, to provide
matching grants to school districts for the purpose of improving or
replacing schoolsite playground equipment to meet state-mandated
playground safety standards.
   This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction
to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the board for
purposes of allocating that $2,000,000, consistent with the
Playground Safety and Recycling Act established by the bill.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 115730 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
   115730.  (a) All public agencies operating playgrounds, including
a state agency, city, county, city and county, and district, shall
upgrade their playgrounds by replacement or improvement as necessary
to satisfy the regulations adopted pursuant to Section 115725 to the
extent state funds are made available specifically for that purpose
through state bonds or other means.  All other entities operating
playgrounds  open to the public shall upgrade their playgrounds by
replacement or improvement, as necessary to satisfy the regulations
adopted pursuant to Section 115725, on or before January 1, 2003.
   (b) (1) Subdivision (a) and the regulations adopted pursuant to
Section 115725 shall not apply to playgrounds installed between
January 1, 1994, and December 31, 1999.  Those playgrounds shall be
subject to the requirements to upgrade set forth in this subdivision
until 15 years after the date those playgrounds were installed, at
which time those playgrounds shall be subject to subdivision (a) and
the regulations adopted pursuant to Section 115725.
   (2) All public agencies operating playgrounds installed between
January 1, 1994, and December 31, 1999, shall upgrade those
playgrounds by replacement or improvement as necessary to satisfy
criteria that are at least as protective as the guidelines in the
Handbook for Public Playground Safety, Publication Number 325, United
States Consumer Product Safety Commission, November 1994, to the
extent that state funds are made available specifically for that
purpose through state bonds or other means.
   (3) All other entities operating playgrounds open to the public
and installed between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 1999, shall
upgrade those playgrounds by replacement or improvement as necessary
to satisfy criteria that are at least as protective as the guidelines
in the Handbook for Public Playground Safety, Publication Number
325, United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, November 1994,
on or before January 1, 2003.
   (c) Before October 1, 2000, all public agencies operating
playgrounds and all other entities operating playgrounds open to the
public shall have a playground safety inspector, certified by the
National Playground Safety Institute, conduct an initial inspection
for the purpose of aiding compliance with the requirements to upgrade
set forth in subdivision (a) or (b), as applicable.  Any inspection
report may serve as a reference when the upgrades are made, but is
not intended for any other use.
   (d) This section shall not affect the liability or absence of
liability of playground operators.
  SEC. 2.  Section 115735 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   115735.  For purposes of this article, all of the following shall
apply:
   (a) An "entity operating a playground open to the public" shall
include, but not be limited to, a church, subdivision, hotel, motel,
resort, camp, office, hospital, shopping center, day care setting,
and restaurant.  An "entity operating a playground open to the public"
shall not include a foster family home, certified family home, small
family home, group home, or family day care home, which is licensed
and regulated to meet child safety requirements enforced by the State
Department of Social Services.
   (b) "Playground" shall refer to an improved outdoor area designed,
equipped, and set aside for children's play that is not intended for
use as an athletic playing field or athletic court, and  shall
include any play equipment, surfacing, fencing, signs, internal
pathways, internal landforms, vegetation, and related structures.
   (c) "Supervision" shall include all general and specific
supervision necessary to protect children from unreasonable risk of
harm from site hazards, the acts of other children, or the use of the
playground in a way that was not intended by the designer or manager
of the playground.  The regulations required pursuant to this
article shall not expand on the periods or circumstances when
supervision shall be provided beyond the periods or circumstances
already determined to be within the existing standard of care to
which a playground operator is held.
  SEC. 3.  Article 4 (commencing with Section 115810) is added to
Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code,
to read:

      Article 4.  Safe Playground Facilities and Recycled Materials

   115810.  This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Playground Safety and Recycling Act of 1999.
   115811.  The playground safety and recycling program is hereby
established, to be administered by the California Integrated Waste
Management Board.  The purpose of the program is to prevent childhood
injuries on public playgrounds, while developing a market for
recycled materials suitable for use in public playgrounds.
   115812.  As used in this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (a) "Board" means the California Integrated Waste Management Board
established pursuant to Section 40400 of the Public Resources Code.

   (b) "Playground" means an improved outdoor area designed,
equipped, and set aside for children's play that is not intended for
use as an athletic playing field or athletic court, and includes in
that area such facilities as play equipment, surfacing, fencing,
signs, internal pathways, internal land forms, vegetation, and
related structures.
   115813.  (a) The board, in consultation with the State Department
of Education, the State Department of Health Services, the Department
of Conservation, the Department of Parks and Recreations, the League
of California Cities, the California State Association of Counties,
the California Park and Recreation Society, and other appropriate
entities, including, but not limited to, beverage container
recyclers, waste haulers, special districts, school districts, county
superintendents of schools, nonprofit organizations, and private
companies, shall develop a program to provide grants to local
agencies to upgrade, repair, refurbish, install, or replace public
playground facilities and promote the use of recycled materials in
those playground facilities.
   (b) The board shall administer grants for purposes of this
article, which shall be awarded pursuant to a request for application
process.
   (c) Grants shall be awarded pursuant to this article to local
agencies, including, but not limited to, schools, school districts,
cities, counties, cities and counties, special districts, and joint
ventures between school districts and other local agencies,
including, but not limited to, park districts, for the purpose of
improving or replacing their public playgrounds.
   (d) To be eligible for a grant pursuant to this article, a local
agency shall do both of the following:
   (1) Demonstrate its ability to provide a 50 percent match, either
through public or private funds or in-kind contributions.  The
matching requirement may be reduced to a 25 percent match, either
through public or private funds or in-kind contributions, upon a
finding by the board that the 50 percent matching requirement would
impose an extreme financial hardship on the local agency applying for
the grant.
   (2) Guarantee that 50 percent of the grant funds will be used for
the improvement or replacement of playground equipment or facilities
through the use of recycled materials.
   (e) No grant made pursuant to this article shall exceed the sum of
twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for any one playground.
   115814.  (a) The board may adopt emergency regulations to
implement this article in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing
with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code and the adoption of those emergency regulations shall
be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health and safety, or general
welfare.
   (b) Emergency regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall
be exempt from the review and approval of the Office of
Administrative Law.
   (c) The emergency regulations shall be submitted to the Office of
Administrative Law only for purposes of filing with the Secretary of
State and publication in the California Code of Regulations.
   115815.  (a) The Playground Safety and Recycling Account is hereby
created in the State Treasury.  Moneys in the account may be
expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of
this article and for the administrative costs incurred by the board
in administering the program.  Those administrative costs shall not
exceed 5 percent of the funds made available annually for the
program, or an amount otherwise specified in the annual Budget Act.
   (b) The program established by this article shall be implemented
by the board with funds appropriated by the Legislature for deposit
in the Playground Safety and Recycling Account or with other funds
made available specifically for this program.
   (c) To the extent that Proposition 98 funds are deposited into the
Playground Safety and Recycling Account or otherwise made available
for the purposes of providing grants pursuant to this article, those
funds shall be used exclusively for grants to eligible local
educational agencies.
   115816.  This article shall become inoperative on July 1, 2003,
and, as of January 1, 2004, is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute that becomes effective on or before January 1, 2004, deletes
or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

  SEC. 4.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall enter into
a memorandum of understanding with the California Integrated Waste
Management Board for the purpose of allocating the two million
dollars ($2,000,000) appropriated to the Superintendent of Public
Instruction by subdivision (bb) of Section 65 of Chapter 78 of the
Statutes of 1999, to provide matching grants to local educational
agencies for the purpose of improving or replacing schoolsite
playground equipment to meet state-mandated playground safety
standards, consistent with the Playground Safety and Recycling Act of
1999 established by Article 4 (commencing with Section 115810) of
Chapter 4 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code,
as added by Section 5 of this act.
